1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sawing apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus increasing the versatility of usage of portable chain saws by adapting such saws to utilization for cutting a workpiece along a fixed predetermined angle, and other stationary or bench usage.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Chain saws are highly effective cutting devices for field work in felling trees and trimming limbs therefrom, as well as for other sawing tasks which involve cutting through relatively large wooden members which are stationarily located, or are, at least, difficult to reach and cut except in the field. Chain saws as presently constructed are portable, and generally include a handle by which the saw can be lifted and manipulated. The types of chain saws currently manufactured and utilized vary considerably in their construction, but nevertheless are generally characterized in having a chain saw blade supporting and guiding plate upon which the saw blade tracks during cutting. Many chain saws have also been heretofore proposed which include various types of guard structures which are intended to function to guard the saw blade during its movement and use to prevent injury to the user.
Although the weight of the various types of chain saws heretofore provided varies considerably from the smallest to the largest size, even the smallest chain saw is relatively heavy (many times heavier, for example, than a hand saw), and such weight makes it difficult to use the chain saw to effect precision cutting of a small wooden workpiece along a preselected line of cut. Moreover, the weight and method of construction of chain saws is such that it is often extremely difficult to cut small, unsupported or unanchored pieces of wood with this type of saw. In general, these characteristics make chain saws unsuited for home use and craft projects, or in carpentry operations where precision cutting of relatively small wooden workpieces is entailed.
Various types of stationary bench-mounted saw devices have previously been manufactured for providing the cutting capacity and power inherent in chain saw structures, yet permitting precision cutting as required in carpentry and for many types of home crafts. Thus, certain types of radial saws, as well as band saws, have been provided on various types of jigs or stands, and have been susceptible to movement in several planes to allow cutting in different planes in order to effect mitered cuts, or preselected bias cuts, in various sizes of workpieces. In general, however, most of the types of saw structures which have been provided for such usage have not been susceptible to transport to field locations where they may be manipulated by hand--that is, readily located and relocated at will in any location which may be desired by the user. Moreover, such structures are, in general, entirely unsuited to felling and trimming trees.
In an effort to realize the advantages of portability and the concomitant flexibility in types of field cutting which is characteristic of chain saw utilization, various proposals have heretofore been made for detachably or temporarily mounting various types of portable power saw structures on supporting platforms or jigs to permit them to be held steadily and stationarily at a fixed location to effect a desired angle of cut, or a particular sawing operation. Some of these types of structures have included platforms or stands upon which chain saws can be mounted, and others have contemplated the demountable, temporary support of radial saws or other types of saws. Examples of patents which depict and describe a chain saw mounting structure for permitting a chain saw to be used as a table saw in woodworking and carpentry are U.S. Pat. No. 2,851,067; French Pat. No. 1,384,843; German Pat. No. 740,065; French Pat. No. 1,031,907; Swiss Pat. No. 374,192; and German Pat. No. 690,791. In the case of each of these patents, however, the structures in which the chain saws are mounted to permit a table sawing application to be achieved are such that the mounting of the saw in the structure for effecting a desired cut is time-consuming, and requires several manipulations using various types of hand tools. Moreover, the types of cuts, as well as the sorts of workpieces which can be cut with the structures thus provided, are, in all cases, limited to certain specialized cutting operations. Thus, the chain saw mounting stand shown in French Pat. No. 1,384,843 is, in reality, best adapted and utilized primarily for cutting logs into relatively short segments (such as firewood), and is unsuited for cutting mitered cuts along a particular, preselected angle. The same limitation is generally characteristic of the saw mounting framework shown in German Pat. No. 690,791. In Greenslate U.S. Pat. No. 2,851,067, cutting is effected by upward movement of the saw blade through the workpiece located on top of a supporting table, and it is thus not possible to perceive the line of cut of the blade as it enters the workpiece. Cutting of the saw is also limited to a single vertical plane in the case of the Greenslate chain saw table.